It’s almost spring (shhhhh, it is! We insist.) and with this beautiful, sunny season comes a burning urge to declutter. Spring cleaning can be a real project, and last year we covered a wide range of strategies and step-by-step ideas to get your home looking and feeling fresh. It’s still a little early to do a full-on spring cleaning (though it’s never a bad time to take care of your stuff), but as new clothes and seasonal sales are beginning to bloom in stores everywhere, clearing a bit of space in your closet and refamiliarizing yourself with your wardrobe needs may be a good first step. If you start now, you’ll have plenty of time to take it slow as well as to be thorough despite your potentially busy schedule!
Here are some things you can do:
- Put things away. Sounds like a joke, right? You may be surprised by how much you have lying around outside of your closet or even on the closet floor. Get a little dusty and scoop up the socks from under your bed, collect your scarves, gloves and hats from around the house, and neatly hang up any clothes that may have slipped off their hangers in your closet. Run a load of laundry, sort through old mismatched socks and toss any that have yet to find their match. Do you have jewelry lying around, or piled up on your dresser? Pair your earrings, untangle any necklaces, sort through your bracelets and put them all away.
- Care for your shoes. Wipe them down and arrange them in a way that is easy to maintain. If you need, invest in a shoe rack or bench for more efficient storage. Have some worn-out pairs that have outlived their use? Toss ’em. Trust us, you’ll replace them in no time.
- Start to organize your space. Do you have a good place to store your tank tops? Socks? Belts and other accessories? If you find yourself shoving items into your closet because you’re not sure where else to put them, it’s time to think about alternative options. Remove everything that may not belong floating in your closet and sort the items into categories that make sense to you. Invest in storage boxes, shelves or drawers that fit easily into your closet or elsewhere in your room. Be sure to consider frequency of use and accessibility, so that your items are stashed efficiently.
- Go through your clothes. We covered this in more detail last spring, but for a precursory decluttering project, dump all of your clothes on your bed or couch and start re-folding. As you go along, ask yourself one question: “Would I buy this in a store today”? If the answer is no, it’s probably time to donate that item. If the answer is yes, return it to your closet. Pay attention to the things you keep, so that you don’t buy similar pieces or items that don’t match during your next shopping spree.
Good luck!
Until next time,
P&C
XOXO